I have worn a snorkel since before I started scuba, and wear one except when it would be a hazard on the dive, at which point I carry it unde the straps of my BFK. I mostly shore dive, with long surface swims, and find the snorkel quite handy. The boat dives are mostly hunting trips so the main point of the dive was not to surface near the boat, so more than a fair amount of surface swims were involved.
I'm not the scuba police, so I really don't care how others kit up. I have seen some regret the choice to ditch their snorkel, but not any large numbers. Ymmv.